Isolating a gene that allows a type of fern to tolerate high levels of arsenic, Purdue University researchers hope to use the finding to create plants that can clean up soils and waters contaminated by the toxic metal.

More From This Expert...

ScienceThe Discovery Files

Blindsided -- The Discovery FilesHeard 5863 times

People who have been blind from birth make use of the visual parts of their brain to refine their sensation of sound and touch, according to an international team of researchers led by neuroscientists at Georgetown University Medical Center.

1:30 Play Download

ScienceThe Discovery Files

Tell and Show -- The Discovery FilesHeard 3407 times

Cognitive psychologists at the University of Pennsylvania and University of California have shown that an image displayed too quickly to be seen by an observer can be detected if the participant first hears the name of the object.

1:30 Play Download

ScienceThe Discovery Files

Uncommon Sense -- The Discovery FilesHeard 3077 times

Researchers at Purdue University have developed a potential new tool for medical diagnostics, testing food and water for contamination, and crime-scene forensics.

1:30 Play Download

ScienceThe Discovery Files

Cheek Check -- The Discovery FilesHeard 3329 times

Engineers and physicians from NorthShore University Health System have developed a method to detect lung cancer by merely shining diffuse light on cells swabbed from patients' cheeks. In their study, the analysis technique was able to differentiate individuals with lung cancer from those without.

1:30 Play Download

ScienceThe Discovery Files

Emotional Recall -- The Discovery FilesHeard 3109 times

Cornell University researchers find that emotions can alter a child's memory and that these distortions could directly impact court cases by affecting decisions made about the reliability of a child witness.

1:30 Play Download

ScienceThe Discovery Files

Spit Take -- The Discovery FilesHeard 3327 times

Researchers have discovered why strands of some fluids containing polymers form beads when stretched, findings that could be used to improve industrial processes and for administering drugs.

1:30 Play Download

ScienceThe Discovery Files

Got Your Bac -- The Discovery FilesHeard 3194 times

While the ways in which the cells of drug resistant bacteria become resistant are understood at the cellular level, until now, the bacteria's survival strategies at the population level remained unclear. A new study at Boston University and Harvard University reveals that a surprisingly small percentage of bacteria actually become highly resistant supermutants. In fact, most of the bacteria in their study survived without being resistant to the effective dose of antibiotics in the environment.

1:30 Play Download

ScienceThe Discovery Files

Waste Treatment Plant -- The Discovery FilesHeard 3114 times

Isolating a gene that allows a type of fern to tolerate high levels of arsenic, Purdue University researchers hope to use the finding to create plants that can clean up soils and waters contaminated by the toxic metal.

1:30 Play Download

ScienceThe Discovery Files

Just Chillin' -- The Discovery FilesHeard 3085 times

New findings from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center may help explain the mechanics behind the widely documented phenomenon of living creatures being totally frozen and then successfully brought back to life.

1:30 Play Download

ScienceThe Discovery Files

Slice of Life -- The Discovery FilesHeard 3329 times

Princeton University scientists may have discovered the oldest fossils of animal bodies. These findings push back the clock on the scientific world's thinking regarding when animal life appeared on Earth.

1:30 Play Download

ScienceThe Discovery Files

Wheel Deal -- The Discovery FilesHeard 3359 times

While the evolution from the Neolithic stone wheel to the sleek wheels of today's racing bikes can be seen as the result of human ingenuity, it also represents how animals, including humans, have come to move more efficiently over millions of years on Earth, according to a Duke University engineer.

1:30 Play Download

ScienceThe Discovery Files

Blow Flies -- The Discovery FilesHeard 4208 times

A Caltech biologist and his research team have identified how the antennae of fruit flies process the feeling of wind and then how the flies respond by standing completely still.

1:30 Play Download

ScienceThe Discovery Files

Laptop Learning -- The Discovery FilesHeard 3119 times

Despite the distraction potential of laptops in college classrooms, research from the University of Michigan shows that they can actually increase students' engagement and learning.

1:30 Play Download

ScienceThe Discovery Files

Sponge Bath -- The Discovery FilesHeard 3226 times

When loaded with an anticancer drug, a delivery system based on a novel material called nanosponge is three to five times more effective at reducing tumor growth than direct injection.

1:30 Play Download

ScienceThe Discovery Files

Buy Buy Blues -- The Discovery FilesHeard 3538 times

According to a Cornell University professor of psychology, consumers found that satisfaction with experiential purchases -- from massages to family vacations -- starts high and increases over time. In contrast, spending money on material things feels good at first, but actually makes people less happy in the end.

1:30 Play Download

ScienceThe Discovery Files

Growth Light -- The Discovery FilesHeard 3372 times

Researchers have developed a way to enhance how brain tumors appear in MRI scans and during surgery, making the tumors easier for surgeons to identify and remove.

1:30 Play Download

ScienceThe Discovery Files

Glacial Globe -- The Discovery FilesHeard 3424 times

Geologists at Harvard University found evidence that sea ice extended to the equator up to 716.5 million years ago, bringing new precision to a snowball Earth event long suspected to have taken place around that time.

1:30 Play Download

ScienceThe Discovery Files

Letter Carrier -- The Discovery FilesHeard 3610 times

Mayo Clinic neuroscientists have demonstrated how brain waves can be used to type alphanumerical characters on a computer screen. By merely focusing on the letter q in a matrix of letters, for example, that q appears on the monitor.

1:30 Play Download

ScienceThe Discovery Files

Hooked On Photonics -- The Discovery FilesHeard 3594 times

Purdue University researchers have developed a miniature device capable of converting ultrafast laser pulses into bursts of radio-frequency signals, a step toward making wires obsolete for communications in homes and offices of the future.

1:30 Play Download

ScienceThe Discovery Files

On The Fly -- The Discovery FilesHeard 3395 times

Using high-speed cameras and computer models, Cornell researchers have shown exactly how fruit flies maneuver through the air, and how they keep stable even when a whoosh of wind knocks them off course.